Method and apparatus for treating textile materials

ABSTRACT

A METHOD OF TREATING TEXTILE MATERIALS WITH A LIQUID. A TREATING LIQUID IS EFICTED THROUGH HOLES BORED THROUGH THE WALL OF A ROTARY HOLLOW SHAFT, SPLASHED BY RADIAL BLADES MOUNTED ON AND ROTATING WITH THE ROTARY HOLLOW SHAFT UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF CENTRIFUGAL FORCE AND DIVIDED INTO FINE PARTICLES BY CONFLICT MEMBERS WHICH ARE ARRANGED SURROUNDING THE OUTER PERIPHERAL EDGES OF THE BLADES AND AGAINST WHICH THE SPLASHING TREATING LIQUID IMPINGES. THE THUS FINELY DIVIDED PARTICLES OF THE TREATING LIQUID HIT AND PENETRATE THE TEXTILE MATERIAL ENGAGED AROUND THE OUTER EDGES OF THE CONFLICT MEMBERS, WHEREBY THE TEXTILE MATERIALS ARE TREATED WITH THE LIQUID. AN APPARATUS FOR PRACTICING THE METHOD FO TREATING TEXTILE MATERIALS WITH A LIQUID. A LARGE NUMBER OF EQUALLY SPACED RADIAL BLADES ARE MOUNTED ON A ROTARY SHAFT HAVING A NUMBER OF HOLES BORED THROUGH THE WALL THEREOF. A PAIR OF OPPOLED SIDE PLATES ARE ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE ROTARY HOLLOW SHAFT AND A LARGE   NUMBER OF CONFLICT MEMBERS ARE PROVIDED EXTENDING ACROSS THE OUTER PERIPHERAL EDGES OF THE SIDE PLATES IN SUITABLY SPACED RELATION SO AS TO SURROUND THE OUTER PERIPHERAL EDGES OF THE BLADES WITH A SUITABLE SPACE THEREBETWEEN, FOR CARRYING THE TEXTILE MATERIAL THEREON.

Oct. 26, 1 971 YQ5H|YUK| TANAKA ETAL 3,614,796

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING TEXTILE MATl'Il\| l\|',S

Filed Oct.

FIG.

FIG. 3

FIG- 2 Oct. 26, 1971 YOSHIYUKI TANAKA ETAL 3,614,796

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING TEXTILE MATERIALS Filed Oct. 20, 1969 3 Sheets-Shoo l; 2

W l x m 1 F 2 3 FIG- 5 Oct. 26, 1971 YOSHIYUKI TANAKA ETAL 3,614,796

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING TEXTILE MATERIALS Filed Oct. 20, 1969 3 Sh00ts-$h00t 5 United States Patent Ofice 3,614,796 Patented Oct. 26, 1971 /76,091 Int. Cl. Bb 3/02; 1305c 8/04 US. Cl. 8-151 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method of treating textile materials with a liquid. A treating liquid is ejected through holes bored through the wall of a rotary hollow shaft, splashed by radial blades mounted on and rotating with the rotary hollow shaft under the influence of centrifugal force and divided into fine particles by conflict members which are arranged surrounding the outer peripheral edges of the blades and against which the splashing treating liquid impinges. The thus finely divided particles of the treating liquid hit and penetrate the textile material engaged around the outer edges of the conflict members, whereby the textile materials are treated with the liquid.

An apparatus for practicing the method of treating textile materials with a liquid. A large number of equally spaced radial blades are mounted on a rotary shaft having a number of holes bored through the wall thereof. A pair of opposed side plates are rotatably mounted on the opposite ends of the rotary hollow shaft and a large number of conflict members are provided extending across the outer peripheral edges of the side plates in suitably spaced relation so as to surround the outer peripheral edges of the blades with a suitable space therebetween, for carrying the textile material thereon.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for the continuous treatment of textile materials. More specifically, the invention is to provide a novel method and apparatus by which a liquid is caused to penetrate the so-called sheet-like textile materials, such as woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, non-woven fabrics and carpets, in the form of fine particles.

In treating the sheet-like textile materials of the type described with a liquid, there has been employed a method wherein a textile material to be treated is passed through a liquid in a treating tank, or a method wherein a liquid is sprayed onto the surfaces of a textile material to be treated, from spray nozzles.

The present invention is concerned with improvements in the latter one of the aforesaid two conventional methods, i.e. the method of treating textile materials by spraying a liquid thereon, and in the apparatus for practicing said method. Namely, the invention has for its object the provision of a novel method and apparatus by which textile materials can be treated evenly at a high speed.

The object of the invention set forth above can be attained by splashing a treating liquid at a high speed by the action of centrifugal force, further dividing the splashing liquid into fine particles by causing it to impinge against conflict members and passing the fine particles of the liquid directly through a textile material to be treated.

The treatment of sheet-like textile materials, referred to herein, includes the treatments which are commonly practiced in the textile industry, such, for example, as cleaning, dyeing, desizing and creping of fabrics.

The apparatus for practicing the method of this in.- vention will be described by way of example hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation, partially broken away, of an apparatus for practicing the method of this invention;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are cross-sectional side views of the apparatus of FIG. 1, respectively showing the modes of treating textile materials;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of an embodiment of the present invention in which a plurality of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 are arranged stepwise;

FIGS. 5 to 7 are crosssectional front views showing the other examples of the blade member respectively;

FIGS. 8 and 9 are side elevations of the other em.- bodiments of the multistage apparatus shown in FIG. 2 respectively;

FIG. 10 is a side elevation of an embodiment wherein a multistage treating apparatus is combined with a vertical vat; and

FIGS. 11 and 12 are side elevations showing the other embodiments of the treating methods shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and using a single apparatus respectively.

The apparatus according to the present invention including a hollow shaft 1 having an axial hole therein, on which a large number of conical or trapezoidal blades 2 are fixedly mounted in suitably spaced relationv to each other. The hollow shaft 1 is provided with a large number of radial holes 3 bored through the wall thereof in communication with the axial hole thereof, at locations adjacent the mounting portions of the respective blades 2, and opposed side plates 4 are rotatably mounted on the opposite ends of the hollow shaft 1 concentrically therewith, through the intermediary of bearings 5 respectively. A large number of conflict members 7 are pro vided adjacent the peripheral edge of the blades 2, with the opposite ends thereof connected to the peripheral edges of the opposed side plates 4- and with the outer edges thereof defining a circumferential plane concentric with the central shaft 1 and the blades 2. The conflict members are each connected to the side plates 4 in such a manner that the angle of inclination thereof is changeable with respect to the central shaft 1. Reference numeral 6 designates a sealing member which is provided to prevent a treating liquid, inside the side plates 4, from fiowing into the bearing 5. Reference numberal 8 designates a bearing supporting the hollow shaft 1, and 9 designates a pulley through which the hollow shaft is driven.

The apparatus of the invention constructed as described above operates in the following manner: Namely, when the hollow shaft 1 is rotated at a high speed while continuously introducing a treating liquid into the axial hole of the hollow shaft 1 from one end thereof, and a material T to be treated is supplied through a guide roll A, lapped around the outer edges of the conflict members 7 and taken up through a guide roll B on the opposite side of the guide roll A, the treating liquid ejected through the through holes 3 in the hollow shaft 1 onto the surfaces of the blades 2 is splashed outwardly by the centrifugal force created by the high speed rotation of said blades and impinges against the conflict members 7. Therefore, the treating liquid is divided into fine particles and the fine particles of the liquid intensely hit the surface of the textile material T at substantially right shaft 1 at substantially the same speed as the textile material T.

By employing the apparatus described above, a starch and other impurities or soil, attached to the textile material T, can effectively be removed.

Instead of lapping the material T to be treated around the outer edges of the conflict members 7 in direct contact therewith as described above, the material may be spaced somewhat from the outer edges of the conflict members as shown in FIG. 3. In this case, the side plates 4 having the conflict members 7 connected thereto is rotated slowly, by the force of the liquid particles impinging against said conflict members. This way of treating is particularly effectively used for the washing of thin knitted and woven fabrics and non-woven fabrics of synthetic fiber filaments with water or for the wetting of textile materials.

FIGS. 4, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 show the other methods of treating textile materials, using the apparatus described above.

With reference to the apparatus shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of the above-described unit apparatus are juxtaposed on each side of vertical posts 10, with the central shafts 1 of the respective unit apparatus in staggered relation between the left and right sides of the vertical posts. A material T to be treated is supplied through an inlet opening at the lowermost portion of the apparatus, passed around a guide roll A, trailed around the outer edges of the conflict members of the lowermost unit apparatus, engaged around the conflict members of the next upper unit apparatus after passing it around the conflict members of the adjacent unit apparatus on the other side of the vertical posts and so on. The material thus led upwardly while being engaged around the respective unit apparatus on both sides of the vertical posts alternately, is withdrawn to the outside of the apparatus through a guide roll B, and during passage through the apparatus, the material is treated continuously. The unit apparatus are each provided with a receptacle therebelow and the receptacles of the respective unit apparatus are connected with each other through a pipe, so that the used liquid in an upper receptacle may flow into an adjacent lower receptacle. Further, each receptacle is positioned such that the surface of the liquid therein be maintained at such a level that the liquid is scooped by the conflict members or blades of the associated unit apparatus. 'In this way, it is possible to prevent the creation of tension or formation of wrinkles in the material to be treated, under the weight of the treating liquid dropped and accumulated in said receptacle, to attain an efficient shower treatment with the thus accumulated liquid, together with the fresh liquid supplied from the hollow shaft 1; to save the treating liquid and consequently to effect the treatment in an efficient manner. Use of such apparatus is particularly effective for the washing with water and desizing of knitted and woven fabrics having a large thickness.

The other examples of the continuous, multistage apparatus of the type described above are shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. Furthermore, such a continuous, multistage apparatus may be combined with a conventional vertical water-washing or dyeing apparatus as shown in FIG. 10. An apparatus consisting of such combination is not only effective for the washing of a heavily soiled material with water, but also enables an evenly dyed material to be obtained when used for dyeing.

The apparatus of the invention singly may continuously be used as a sprayer when it is mounted within a closed enclosure and a material to be treated is passed around the apparatus while maintaining a certain space between it and the conflict members of said apparatus, as shown in FIG. 11.

The apparatus may also be used as a decatizing machine when it is mounted within a treating tank and a material to be treated is engaged around the apparatus in the form of an endless belt, as shown in FIG. 12. In this case, if lukewarm water is supplied into the hollow shaft 1, the decatizing efliciency can be further enhanced, as compared with that of a conventional decatizing machine. It is also possible to use the present apparatus as a dyeing machine.

Although the present invention has been described and illustrated herein for use in the treatment of sheet-like textile materials, it is to be understood that the application of the invention is not restricted only to the textile materials but the invention may effectively be applied to the washing with Water of synthetic resin films, thin metal sheets, etc. 7

Further, although the apparatus of the invention has been described and illustrated herein with reference to embodiments thereof which are designed for practicing the method of this invention, it should be noted that the present invention is not restricted only to the embodiments but the advantage of the invention can also be obtained by modifying the apparatus in many ways or by combining the same with other known treating apparatus.

Besides the conical shape shown in FIG. 1', the blades 2 of the present apparatus may be of any one of the shapes shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, or may be of helical shape. Alternatively, the blade may be composed of a plurality of blade members suitably inclined to the axis of the hollow shaft. However, a greater centrifugal force can be created and a greater splashing force of the treating liquid can be obtained and, therefore, the treatment can be carried out at a higher efficiency, by mounting a large number of blades on the hollow shaft at right angles thereto in suitably spaced relation with each other, as shown in the embodiments, than by the arrangement described above. A sufficient centrifugal force can also be created to splash the treating liquid, by mounting brushes on the hollow shaft radially thereof, instead of mounting the aforesaid blades. However, use of the brushes is not desirable from the standpoint of durability. Alternatively, a cylinder having a large number of apertures bored therein may be mounted over the hollow shaft 1 in concentrical relation thereto, but according to the experiment conducted by the present inventors, such construction has proved unsatisfactory because a sulficiently large centrifugal force cannot be obtained and accordingly the treating efficiency is declined as compared With that attainable by the blades shown in the embodiments.

The conflict members 7 are not restricted to those shown in the embodiment, each of which consist of a flat plate connected between the opposed side plates in such a manner that the angle of inclination thereof can be adjusted freely, but the effect of dividing the treating liquid, splashed under the influence of centrifugal force, into fine particles can sufficiently be obtained only by connecting round or angularly-shaped conflict members between the side plates in suitably spaced relation to each other.

The treating apparatus of the present invention has a number of advantages over a conventional treating apparatus of a shower type or dipping type, i.e. that a satisfactory effect of treatment can be obtained with a small quantity of treating liquid, that the pressure and the quantity of the treating liquid are maintained constant, that there is no fear of a material to be treated being stretched or wrinkled due to local concentration of the shower pressure, that by arranging a plurality of the apparatus side by side in vertical juxtaposition the floor space for mounting the apparatus can be reduced and yet a sufficient treating effect can be obtained, that the treating efficiency can drastically be enhanced, and that the treatment can be accomplished effectively and evenly.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of treating a textile material with a liquid, comprising the steps of supplying the treating liquid into an axial hole of a rotating hollow shaft from one end thereof, ejecting the treating liquid through holes formed in the wall of said hollow shaft onto the surfaces of regularly spaced radial blades mounted on and rotating with said hollow shaft thereby to splash the treating liquid under the influence of centrifugal force imparted thereto by said blades, dividing the thus splashed treating liquid into fine particles by means of conflict members and cansing the fine particles of the treating liquid to impinge against the surface of the textile material with some of them penetrating through said textile material.

2. An apparatus for treating a textile material with a liquid, comprising a rotary hollow shaft having a large number of treating liquid ejecting holes bored through the wall thereof, a large number of regularly spaced radial blades mounted on said rotary hollow shaft, a pair of opposed side plates rotatably mounted on the opposite ends of said rotary hollow shaft through a bearing and a large number of equally spaced conflict members extending across the peripheral edges of said side plates in adjacent relation to the outer peripheral edges of said blades to surround said blades.

3. An apparatus for treating a textile material with a liquid as defined in claim 2, wherein said conflict members are rotated about said rotary hollow shaft by a textile material engaged around the outer edges thereof.

4. An apparatus for treating a textile material with a liquid as defined in claim 2, wherein said conflict members are rotated about said rotary hollow shaft by both the textile material engaged around the other edges thereof in direct contact therewith and the force of the treating liquid impinging against said conflict members.

5. An apparatus for treating a textile material with a liquid as defined in claim 2-, wherein said blades are conical in shape.

6. An apparatus for treating a textile material with a liquid as defined in claim 2, wherein said blades each have a trapezoidal cross-section.

7. An apparatus for treating a textile material with a liquid as defined in claim 2., wherein said blades each consists of a flat disc.

-8. An apparatus for treating a textile material with a liquid as defined in claim 2, wherein said blades each con,- sisting of a disc plate with the central portion raised in a conical shape.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,056,803 10/ 1936 Failing 68-l58 UX 2,166,772. 7/1939 Salsas-Serra Z39-224 X 3,098,371 7/1963 Fleissner 68158 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,285,680 1/1962 France 6862 W'ILLIAM I. PRICE, Primary Examiner PHILIP R. COE, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

fill-62, 200; 11s 3.25; 239-423, 555 

